Were you there? This begins a series of posts I have begun to write about personal things that I do miss or don’t miss about the 1970’s. This post is about something that I do miss. Feel free to add your ideas or comments below.
Things I miss about my life in the 1970s – in no particular order…and more to come
#1 – Dirt Bikes
Yeah, I know it’s extremely popular sport today but those were the earlier days of riding dirt 
bikes. The bikes we had didn’t quite look like the ones today, but we could make ’em fly….literally. Yep. My kids don’t and won’t really believe all the stupid stuff I did on two wheels, (and one) but I had a Yamaha Enduro Motorcycle. I think it was a ’74 model. I thought it was the best day of my life when I got that thing.
On our dirt bikes we climbed hills that shouldn’t be climbed, we jumped over hills that shouldn’t be jumped over, we built ramps that we young Knievels should have stayed away from, had a figure 8 track, and went crazy speeds on gravel and dirt roads. Daddy found out about some of that. He just warned me that I have better not tear up the motorcycle….the motorcycle? What about me, dad??
And more than once we ran from law enforcement vehicles because a lot of us didn’t have driver’s licenses yet. We would cut through yards, hide in the woods, travel at any blistering 
speed we could to get that bike away from what we only knew as “THE LAW.” But, although they got me a time or two, I never got anything but a warning. I try to behave now, so I guess I am a reformed criminal.
What the heck?
But now, I don’t understand. I’m mad. It’s not fair. Any 6 year old can drive a golf cart around our neighborhoods. How on this spinning planet did we get here? For us, it was… “You shall not operate any motorized vehicle on public streets without a valid driver’s license.” Didn’t matter if it was a motorcycle, go-cart, mini-bike, or your battery-powered G.I.Joe jeep capable of 4 MPH. It wasn’t allowed. It just ain’t fair to us who had to run from the Po Po.…and I protest…LOL. The authorities tried their best to keep us off the road. But for the most part, there were so many of us with bikes in our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods, that there weren’t enough deputies to catch us. Bunch of outlaws…
Yeah, we should’ve obeyed the law, but…we wuz crazee.
I miss riding those crazy dirt bikes.
Check out part 2 of this series RIGHT HERE. This one is something that I don’t miss.